Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation is a small spacecraft technology and
robotics company
[Erik Baard,]
Alligators Below City? Try Robo-Inchworms
''The New York Times'' BUSINESS: DIARY; November 10, 2002 headquartered in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, with offices in
Altadena, California and
Longmont, Colorado
The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
Longmont ...
. It was established in 1983 by Stephen Gorevan and Chris Chapman. In June 2017, Honeybee Robotics was acquired by Ensign-Bickford Industries. In January 2022, Honeybee was sold to Blue Origin.
Products
Honeybee has particular expertise in developing and operating small mechanical tools used on Mars missions. Some of the robotic devices it has developed and successfully demonstrated on
Mars include:
* The
Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) instruments used on both
Mars Exploration Rovers
* The Icy Soil Acquisition Device (ISAD), sometimes called the "Phoenix Scoop", a soil scoop and a precision ice-sampling tool successfully demonstrated on the 2008 Mars
Phoenix Lander mission
* The Sample Manipulation System and Dust Removal Tool used on the
Mars Science Laboratory mission, which landed in August 2012
In addition, they were developing tools that would be used to live and work on the moon as part of
NASA's
Constellation program. They are now helping design instruments for NASA's
VIPER rover.
Honeybee develops systems for future missions to Mars,
[K. Zacny, G. Paulsen, K. Davis, E. Mumm, and S. Gorevan]
Honeybee Robotics Planetary Sample Acquisition, Transfer and Processing Technologies
presented at Mars Sample Return 2008, Lunar and Planetary Science Institute Venus, the
Moon, two
Jovian moons
There are 82 known moons of Jupiter, not counting a number of moonlets likely shed from the inner moons. All together, they form a satellite system which is called the Jovian system. The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons: ...
,
and asteroid and comet sample return, among others. They worked with
Bigelow Aerospace to develop a preliminary design for a
solar array deployment mechanism that was used on the solar arrays of their
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...
inflatable space habitat. Terrestrial projects include developing mechanisms, installations, and systems for a broad array of clients including
Con Edison, the
U.S. Navy,
Coca-Cola,
Nike, and architects
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an American interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by four partners – Elizabeth Diller, Ri ...
.
In December, 2022, NASA awarded Honeybee Robotics a contract to provide several systems for the upcoming
Mars Sample Return mission. These include the Capture, Containment, and Retrieval System (CCRS), Earth Entry System (EES), and Spin Eject Mechanism (SEM).
References
External links
*
Mars robot PDF
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Aerospace companies of the United States
Robotics companies of the United States
Technology companies established in 1983
Companies based in Brooklyn